Offensive Skills

Offensive skills and drills are the focus of this page and the articles below. Mastering the skills needed to put the runs on the board are what we are talking about. We have broken the skills down to small teachable elements to assist you, the coach, to do it the right way. Please, if you have something that could help a new coach or even experienced coaches, share it with us on the Coaching-Fastpitch "Coaches Input" page. If we use a drill that you submit, we will recognize you in the by line.

The challenge is hitting a fastpitch softball. A fastpitch batter has the same amount of reaction time from the time the ball is released from the pitchers hand and crosses the home plate as a baseball player has. This is based on a comparison of a 60 MPH fastpitch vs a 90 MPH baseball pitch. Add the rise ball to the pitchers arsenal, baseball pitchers do not have a pitch that rises, and you have one of the toughest challenges in sports. The batter must constantly work on developing a good compact swing. The coach has to be able to teach the compact swing and in order to do that, the coach has to be able to break the swing down into small teachable components.

Coaching-Fastpitch Newsletter

Signing up for the Coaching Fastpitch Newsletter. On occasion, I will be sending out the newsletter with interesting fastpitch stories and my thoughts. As a BONUS just for signing up for the newsletter, you will receive a password for the practice drills page.

I was coaching a young 12U team in the summer of 2010. We practiced twice a week until the season started, then we only practice once per week. We play games two nights per week and we also played weekend tournaments. I wrote a practice plan for each week and sent my plan to those who had signed up for the Coaching-Fastpitch Newsletter. The practice plan that I used is good for 10U and 12U teams. Click here to see past issues of this newsletter.You will also have access to the Fastpitch Drills page which details the drills that are in the Coaching-Fastpitch newsletter. You can follow my plan if you like, you can modify it as you like or you can create your own plan. Register using the Opt-In form to your left.

Buntingis an important part of fastpitch. The strategy of the short game means that all of your players better be able to lay one down when you need one.


Slappinghas become a great offensive weapon especially for the very fast left-handed batter. Like everything else, this skill should be practiced before using it in a fastpitch game.

Teaching your athletes good base running skillswill make a difference in the game. Being aggressive will gain extra bases and more scoring.


Slidingis fundamental to the game and should be taught by the coach so that the players are not afraid to do it and reduce the chance of getting hurt.

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